This post is a guest column submitted by State Treasurer David McRae.
My
great-grandfather grew up on a farm in rural Rankin County. He opened
his first department store in Jackson, Mississippi, at the turn of the
century. Like today, that wasn’t the easiest time to start a business.
World War I was coming. The 1918 flu pandemic was around the corner. And
the Great Depression wasn’t far behind. But my great-grandfather
understood one thing very clearly: If we were going to weather the
economic tides, our family couldn’t be in the department store business;
we had to be in the customer-service business. For 100 years, we were.
That
same customer-service mindset is at the center of what I’m now doing as
Mississippi Treasurer. While much of what I do addresses how our state
finances are structured in order to best preserve your tax dollars and
protect the state’s credit rating, the Treasury is also responsible for
returning unclaimed property to its rightful owner – and this is where
customer service really comes into play.
It’s
sometimes very difficult for banks, credit unions, and even retail
stores to find the rightful owner of certain monetized property, such as
an electricity bill refund issued to your former residence, the
remanence of a long-forgotten savings account, or an inheritance left by
a late relative. The reality is that people move, families lose touch,
and the money that’s left behind goes unclaimed. So, after five years,
these entities turn that money over to the state to find the rightful
owners.
Since
January when I entered office, the Treasury’s Division of Unclaimed
Property has returned more than $10 million to Mississippi. It’s
important to note the money we return in Unclaimed Property is not the
state’s money – it’s not taxpayer money either. It’s your money and so
it’s simply the State Treasury’s responsibility to return it to the
rightful owners, which is precisely what we’re doing.
$10
million is a lot to pump into Mississippi’s economy right now. Since
we’re just seven months into this project, however, we still have
millions more to return. With that in mind, I wanted to personally
invite every Mississippian to help out with this economy-boosting
effort.
I
am proud of the work my team is doing to return this money. We’re
conducting our own investigative work and proactively reaching out to
those we believe are the rightful owners, but you can play a big role in
this process as well. Here’s how:
2. Search
for money in your name, a family member’s name, your church’s name,
your business’ name, or even a favorite organization’s name.
3. If there is money that you believe may belong to you, claim it. Our team will then get to work returning it to you.
We
know this has been a tough year financially for many in the state.
We’re hopeful, however, that this effort can bring a little relief to
some. If you don’t have internet access or cannot visit Treasury.MS.gov, please call our office at 601-359-3600. We would be happy to help you begin your search.
4 comments:
Gosh, I hope he didn't hurt his arm patting himself on the back.
Here's a tip - just do your job.
You're right 3:23.
I have nothing against this young man, but that first paragraph smelled liked either a campaign
ad or a teaser that the old defunct McRae's Department store was about to reopen.
Either way, I'm writing it off as inexperience in public relations.
Not to worry . . . I'm guessing that comment was only an example of growing pains for someone recently elected to a prominent State Office.
Lord knows, Delbert Hoseman embarrassed himself immediately (many times) after he won his first "statewide election".
McRae will do a great job as State Treasurer.
Deppity Pheel always kept an even keel!
The water, the tide—it comes in and it goes out. It always goes in, then it goes out. … You can't explain that. You can't explain it.
I applaud anyone who can get money out of government before it can be spent by government.
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